The Chairman of the PDP Caretaker Committee, Ekiti State, has strongly condemned Silverbird for awarding the title of “Man of the Year, 2024” to Ekiti Governor, Biodun Oyebanji.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Adeleke said: “It seems these annual awards have now become cash and carry. Imagine Thisday giving Man of the Year to President Tinubu, and Silverbird awarding its own version to one of the worst-performing governors in Nigeria, Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State. What a joke.”
The CTC Chairman noted that Oyebanji has thoroughly underperformed as a governor: “Go to Ekiti and see the decaying condition of infrastructure and the poor lifestyle of the people. This is a man to whom governorship is all about cronyism and nepotism. He chooses friends and family for appointments, without a care for merit. The roads are all bad, and there is such disregard for the dividends of democracy that poverty is like a shadow following people around.
“You wonder what the criteria were for picking Oyebanji as Man of the Year. Is it that they picked the winner from the bottom? It is actually laughable. Have these people even tried to visit Ekiti State? Whether by air or by road, the consequences are the same: gnashing of teeth. If Silverbird ever tried to visit Ekiti before this discreditable award, they would realize that Ekiti’s airport is not better than a village football field—not because the state does not have a better airport, but because a vindictive Oyebanji has refused to commission an airport that is already in existence, regardless of the risks involved with using the old airport. Oyebanji only thinks about himself and his sons. That’s the way he operates and has been misgiverning Ekiti State. I mean that award is a scam, at best”
Continuing, Adeleke emphasized: “As a matter of fact, Oyebanji is the worst governor in the entire Southwest. On security, he scores zero. Kidnapping is still rampant in Ekiti. We must not forget how many lives have been lost in that state due to insecurity.
“If I may ask, what are the indices used by Silverbird to select their ‘Man of the Year’? We have His Excellency Engr. Seyi Makinde, whose developmental scorecard is colossal. We have Ademola Adeleke, who has done excellently in Osun, and without being partisan, Sanwo-Olu is doing well in Lagos. How come the worst of them becomes ‘Man of the Year’?”
“These awards are now a comedy. They lack merit, and if I may say, seem as shady as the man Oyebanji himself,” the PDP chieftain noted, while advising Nigerians to disconnect from those “churning out awards like Lafun in an Ijebu market place, or perhaps for one favor or another. They have demeaned the good intentions of those who started these annual awards and diminished its importance.”
